J Riff
The Ants are my friends..
why do i bother
You would believe anything major-league plagiarists said, or came out with?
Memories o' Jim Page and the formation of Zep, then.
In about 68 it became apparent Zep were going to be huge. Timing, timing, timing. Millions just a-sittin there to be picked up.
Back up. Prior to this, the Yardbirds drew about 300-500 people (appropriate for any and all English art school bands imitating American R and B)
A year or two later - 30,000 people. Music fans? Hardly.
Anyway, dressing up Jim was a problem. Plant was perfect, he was the required sex object that Keith Relf was not. But there was trubble w/ Jimmy's outfit. Finally they had him looking right, but his guitar was up too high. He needed that gunslinger look, but he couldn't play the thing down there! Eventually- they had to shave the neck off the Les Paul he was abusing at that time. Shaved it down like a toothpick. Now he looked right and the show went on the road.
Mind, there was tremendous anger and resentment from a bunch of guitarists at the time. Why was this choice gig going to Mr. surly heroin addict?
There were ten guys straining at the leash but Jim held on by being tough and mean- and looking right. But, he was a full-on, miserable heroin addict.
The decision to rip off various blues artists was conscious. Not by the band members, neccessarily, but certainly by management. Their 'logic' was- we can make more by stealing the songs and making them come after us - which is what happened. A lot of high-end crime works this way.
Steal as much as possible- as long as there is no jailable offense- then make the victim work to get back what he/she can. If they can reclaim half of ten mil, say- you just stole five million! That's kinda what Led Zep were about, though again, Mr. heroin-brain may not have been fully aware of this.
77? Miserable like you can't believe. Jim Page is not a total schmuck- he finally saw what was happening and wanted out, he didn't like the audience he was playing for, not just Seattle.
Having said that- Zep at least played real tunes- albeit someone else's - but they pretty much signified the end of the rip, the well of old tunes had run rather dry, and the next wave of bands, early 70s crud- was in effect a random sampling of hyperactive kids who would never have been musicians in any realistic scenario.
You can blame the corporate people if you like, but on the inside- even Keith Richards is phony as a three dollar bill.
What I'm remembering from 77 is the miserable, sour feeling of the people in the biz, at the gig, backstage, not the excitement of watching some Brit kids play Willie Dixon covers.
You would believe anything major-league plagiarists said, or came out with?
Memories o' Jim Page and the formation of Zep, then.
In about 68 it became apparent Zep were going to be huge. Timing, timing, timing. Millions just a-sittin there to be picked up.
Back up. Prior to this, the Yardbirds drew about 300-500 people (appropriate for any and all English art school bands imitating American R and B)
A year or two later - 30,000 people. Music fans? Hardly.
Anyway, dressing up Jim was a problem. Plant was perfect, he was the required sex object that Keith Relf was not. But there was trubble w/ Jimmy's outfit. Finally they had him looking right, but his guitar was up too high. He needed that gunslinger look, but he couldn't play the thing down there! Eventually- they had to shave the neck off the Les Paul he was abusing at that time. Shaved it down like a toothpick. Now he looked right and the show went on the road.
Mind, there was tremendous anger and resentment from a bunch of guitarists at the time. Why was this choice gig going to Mr. surly heroin addict?
There were ten guys straining at the leash but Jim held on by being tough and mean- and looking right. But, he was a full-on, miserable heroin addict.
The decision to rip off various blues artists was conscious. Not by the band members, neccessarily, but certainly by management. Their 'logic' was- we can make more by stealing the songs and making them come after us - which is what happened. A lot of high-end crime works this way.
Steal as much as possible- as long as there is no jailable offense- then make the victim work to get back what he/she can. If they can reclaim half of ten mil, say- you just stole five million! That's kinda what Led Zep were about, though again, Mr. heroin-brain may not have been fully aware of this.
77? Miserable like you can't believe. Jim Page is not a total schmuck- he finally saw what was happening and wanted out, he didn't like the audience he was playing for, not just Seattle.
Having said that- Zep at least played real tunes- albeit someone else's - but they pretty much signified the end of the rip, the well of old tunes had run rather dry, and the next wave of bands, early 70s crud- was in effect a random sampling of hyperactive kids who would never have been musicians in any realistic scenario.
You can blame the corporate people if you like, but on the inside- even Keith Richards is phony as a three dollar bill.
What I'm remembering from 77 is the miserable, sour feeling of the people in the biz, at the gig, backstage, not the excitement of watching some Brit kids play Willie Dixon covers.
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